TeliaSonera, Hibernia Combine their Media Efforts

TeliaSonera AB (ETR:TLS, news, filings) International Carrier and Hibernia Atlantic are teaming up, combining their respective media delivery businesses. Hibernia Media will be acquiring TSIC's MediaConnect business and merging it into its own, while TSIC's global fiber backbone will be used to greatly augment the combined networks' reach around the world, but especially in Europe where Teliasonera has the deepest penetration.

Hibernia Media was formed following Hibernia Atlantic's purchase of MediaXstream a few years ago, seeking to leverage the company's transatlantic cable assets and their network footprint on either side of the Atlantic to attack a new vertical with big bandwidth needs. Meanwhile, TSIC's MediaConnect business had been gaining traction for sporting events alongside its other content verticals. But neither had really broken through yet.

By teaming up for media delivery, Hibernia and Teliasonera gain scale and can take on the likes of Vyvx more directly, with deep coverage both in the US and Europe from the underlying fiber assets. Both media networks are based on a NetInsight NIMBRA MSR platform, which they say will make the integration relatively painless.

One company for whom this deal may have additional strategic effects is TSIC's pan-European competitor COLT, which partnered up with Hibernia Media back in April for managed broadcast services. On the other hand, I still think COLT may be a consolidation target over the next year or two for Level 3.